Kashmiri journalist having anti-Article 370 stance contesting polls at FCC of South Asia

“Yes, Tawqeer Hussain has been on the radar of Indian intelligence agencies since August 2019”

Delhi Crown Bureau

New Delhi: Tawqeer Hussain, a journalist hailing from Kashmir and working for a Japanese newspaper in New Delhi, is on the panel of contestants for the biennial elections at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) of South Asia situated at AB-19, Mathura Road, in the Indian capital city.

According to a poster available with www.thedelhicrown.com, Hussain is contesting for the post of Secretary at the Club, where elections are to be held on March 27 at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Hussain is learnt to be having views critical of abrogation of Article 370. Club members say he has been heard on more than one occasion expressing views against the Central Government’s move to abrogate the Article two-and-a-half years ago.

His Twitter profile says that he is the Special Correspondent (South Asia) for the Japanese newspaper “Yomiuri”, and shows that he has a total of 1398 followers. In the background image of his Twitter Account, Hussain appears to be interviewing a couple of Kashmiri leaders.

“Tawqeer Hussain has been a vocal critic of Modi’s Government’s policy of abrogation of Article 370. He was also very critical of allowing Kashmir Files’ Director-Producer Vivek Agnihotri to hold a press conference at the Club last year. Eventually, after much hullaballoo Agnihotri’s presser was cancelled, despite him having paid advance booking amount etc. to the Club. Yes, Hussain has been on the radar of Indian intelligence agencies since August 2019 over his views critical of the Indian Government vis-à-vis Kashmir,” says a senior journalist who is also contesting the polls at the FCC of South Asia.

Hussain has been a Member of the Governing Committee at the Club for the past two years under the “tumultuous presidency” of Munish Gupta.

Interestingly, in the said poster Hussain is seen along with Munish Gupta and Ayanjit Sen, both of whom claim to be the “staunch supporters” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and are contesting for the post of Member, Governing Committee.

Munish Gupta also happens to be the brother-in-law of late Congress leader and former union cabinet minister Matang Sinh whose wife (and Gupta’s sister) Manoranjana Sinh was jailed for several months for her role in the infamous Saradha scam that had rocked the nation a decade ago.

Ayanjit Sen is learnt to have actively participated at the last Assembly elections held in West Bengal. “In the last Assembly elections held in West Bengal, Ayanjit Sen had played an active role in campaigning for BJP candidates. He had even put up his photographs wearing BJP’s patkas on the Facebook. But, immediately after the results were declared and the Trinamool Congress emerged as the winner, Sen had deleted those pics from his Facebook account,” says a member of the Foreign Correspondents (FC) category at the Club.

The Club elections, announced earlier this month, have been quite eventful so far, even as only a couple of days ago a district court had annulled the Online Elections and ordered for holding the elections by raise of hands or secret ballot. Following the legal drubbing on March 21, the current “president” Munish Gupta tried his best to gain political mileage at the Club by falsely claiming that he was physically assaulted by a lady lawyer at the Patiala House Courts…!

Gupta had broken his several limbs, including the spine, in November last year after he fell off the stairs at his home in an inebriated state. Ever since, he has undergone several surgeries. Often seen wearing a neck-support, Gupta still has a fractured wrist and a rod implanted in one of the legs.